Buried in a new survey by MMGY Global is a piece of bad news for travel agents: Only 4% of the Americans polled think travel agents offer the best prices, and only 5% think they are the most convenient way to book travel.
The perception among travelers is that online agencies like Expedia and Travelocity do much better; 48% of travelers say they are the cheapest and 45% say they are the most convenient.
Airline, hotel, and car rental sites scored 38% and 41%, respectively.
On the positive side, the 2013 Portrait of the American Traveler survey found that slightly more Americans expect to travel more in the next year (18%) than expect to travel less (15%).
Not surprisingly, the more affluent (earning more than $250,000) will see the biggest increase; fully 28% of them expect to travel more next year versus last year.
MMGY Global vice chairman Peter Yesawich presented the survey results this week at a Questex event in New York.
